It can be a stressful time to search for a new property. Whether you are searching for yourself or searching for a potential investment opportunity, there are lots to consider.
When searching for a property, you should consider the location you’re looking for. This means narrowing down the search to specific areas. So the first step will be to find the area of the country you want to live in, if you still want to live in your home country, before looking more into certain cities.
Even within these cities, you will need to think about what areas you want to live in. You should be aware that certain areas of the country will be cheaper to purchase and live in, with other areas being more costly. Consider lowering your expectations of areas to buy in or looking towards nearby areas.
This article will go over some of the key things you should consider during your search, from getting a real view of the size of the property to understanding how much work the property needs. You can get started by reading below.
The Size And Floor Plan
When viewing the property online, you may not get a good idea of just how big or small the property is. Ensure you are viewing any property in person before purchasing so that you get a good feel for it ahead of time.
If viewing the property or purchasing, you should be provided with a floor plan with accurate sizes and measurements used. When planning the purchase, this will be useful for you as you can figure out where the furniture will go and how you could transform the property.
Ensure that the size of the property is what you’re looking for and is just right for your needs. It won’t just be the property’s interior you should be looking at. You should also be looking at the garden and ensure you’re aware of where the property line ends, so you know where you’re allowed to live and expand onto.
What You Wish To Do With The Property
When searching around for a property, you should be clear with what you intend to do with it. You must know this, as it could decide your budget and give you a direction you want to go towards. For example, if you’re planning on purchasing the property for the purposes of an investment, then you should be clear on how much you’re willing to spend and how much you believe you will be able to get back from your investment.
You may not be able to completely afford an outright purchase of a property, either for investment reasons or for your own personal living situation. In cases like this, you may need to source some form of loan or mortgage to secure the property. There may be some stumbling blocks to you securing a mortgage, such as not having enough money for a deposit or not having a high enough credit score to qualify in the first place.
Fortunately, there are solutions to this. You can utilise a bad credit mortgage from specialised brokers such as Money Nest. They can help match you with a mortgage provider and expert who can work to get you your mortgage. You will be able to secure your mortgage then and move forward with your home purchase.
It’s important to note that if you have a bad credit score, it is unlikely that you will be pursuing a property purchase for investment. You should only really go down this avenue if you try to purchase a home for your own living situation.
The Plumbing Situation
When searching around a home, you will likely benefit more from analysing the plumbing situation yourself. While the individual offering the home should have it clear whether everything is in working condition or if it needs work to make it viable.
Even if it is in working condition, it’s important to note that homes may have different heating and plumbing solutions. So while the plumbing may be working fine on the property, it may work differently from what you’re used to.
For example, some central heating systems may mean you only have a finite amount of hot water each day. This is an issue for some homeowners, but the main reason for it is that it saves energy, so you must understand what you want from a plumbing situation.
For this reason, you should ensure you understand what sort of central heating system will be in place and how they work overall. For example, you may have plumbing and heating that is only electric, or it could be gas-powered too.
Once you understand the plumbing situation in some properties you’re viewing, then that could help you narrow down your decision on which property you’re purchasing. In particular, it could help you make the decision if it financially makes more sense.
Look For Dampness
After purchasing a home, something that could be catastrophic to discover is to find high levels of dampness throughout the property. Not all dampness is obvious at first. It could be hidden in a room you’ve not looked at or could be developing behind walls, meaning it’s more of a slow burner.
This will be an issue to discover later, as it can cause more damage to the property’s structure or even foundation in a year’s time. This will cause damage, but it will be expensive to fix, which you don’t want to have to deal with.
Before purchasing the property, ensure you have looked over all the documents you have been provided, and consider hiring out the services of a surveyor yourself right before purchasing. This can help reassure your decision to buy, and they may find something that the home sellers’ surveyors didn’t find.
If you find something like this which is costly, you should consider renegotiating the property’s price or ask them to sort it out beforehand. If neither happens, then you should consider pulling out of the purchase, and going down an alternative solution. While you may have to pay for the surveyor’s services, it will be cheaper than paying the high amount for a property and then having to pay more to fix the damp.
How Much Work It Needs
You should also be looking out for how much work a property needs in general, aside from damp. For example, you should look at the electricity and wiring situation and carefully look at the flooring and ceiling. If you see any noticeable cracks, that could be a sign of trouble.
It’s also worth looking into the location of power sockets. If you work from home, you may need more sockets in certain areas of the home, especially if you want your own office. You should create a checklist of things to look out for to go over all the little details that are important to you.
Ensure you are checking out the windows and doors too to find out how insulated the home is. If they are only single glazed, it costs you more to heat the property up, due to how much heat escapes the home.
Go over all of these different parts of the property so that you are not unsure about anything. You will then know how much more you would need to invest into the property. It could be a fun project for you to overhaul, as long as you know what needs to be done.
